A 63-year-old Italian man, Michele Santelia has achieved a world record by typing copies of 81 books backwards, a technique that he calls ‘mirror writing’, as per a report by the Guinness World Records (GWR).

For the purpose of this record, the books must be typed using ‘mirror writing’, such that the result is the mirror image of any given language’s normal writing.

 

Michele’s latest book, Das Nibelungenlied Backwards, a medieval German heroic epic, was typed in 2022. Michele dedicated it to “the disabled people of the whole world; to all those who suffer daily in a bigoted and clumsy society.”

 

* Santaglia types books using four completely blank keyboards without looking backwards.

* He types each book in its original language whether it be hieroglyphs, Old Hebrew, Traditional Chinese, Mayan, Etruscan, Cuneiform or Voynich glyphs.

* He reverse-typed the Bible, the Code of Hammurabi, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Book of the Dead from ancient Egypt, the writings of Leonardo da Vinci.

* He is able to type using 16 computer keyboards simultaneously located at different heights.

* He credits Leonardo da Vinci who inspired him to do mirror typing.

* Santaglia has given several books to various world figures over the years, including former US Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama, Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and former Italian Presidents Carlo Ciampi and Giorgio Napolitano.

* Also, he has compiled all the four Indian Vedas in a single book by reverse typing.

* He types every book in its original language whether it is Hieroglyphs, Old Hebrew, Traditional Chinese, Mayan, Etruscan, Cuneiform or Voynich glyphs....

Source : NDTV

The 53rd edition of the  World Economic Forum (WEF) will begin today (16th Jan 2023) at Davos in Switzerland. The meeting will continue till 20th January 2023.

The theme for this year (2023) WEF meeting is 'Cooperation in a Fragmented World'. 

The congregation of experts, academics, investors, and political and business leaders will discuss some of the pressing issues the world is facing today, such as the Russia-Ukraine crisis, global inflation and climate change and promote innovative solutions.

 

World leaders are expected to share their insights on the prevalent economic conditions across the globe. According to the WEF's annual Global Risks Report, recession threat, cost-of-living crisis and debt distress is likely to dominate the outlook for at least two years.

Global leaders taking part in the meeting include, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, South Africa President Cyril M Ramaphosa, Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Swiss President Alain Berset and Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Strong participation of leaders from India is expected at the summit.

 

WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said, they see the manifold political, economic and social forces creating increased fragmentation on a global and national level.

He said, to address the root causes of this erosion of trust, they need to reinforce cooperation between the government and business sectors, creating the conditions for a strong and durable recovery..

Source : AIR

The annual wholesale price index-based inflation for December 2022 eased to a 22-month low of 4.95 percent on the back of a favourable base effect and an easing off supply side pressures of items such as fruits and vegetables, the government data showed on Monday.

 

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was 5.85 per cent in November 2022 and 14.27 per cent in December 2021.

 

At the broad-segments level, while the primary articles’ inflation declined to a 23-month low of 2.4 per cent, the manufacturing inflation edged down to a 25-month low of 3.4 per cent in December 2022.

 

However, the fuel and power inflation rose to 18.1 per cent in December 2022 from a 20-month low of 17.4 per cent in the previous month.

 

“The decline in the rate of inflation in December 2022 is primarily contributed by fall in prices of food articles, mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, food products, textiles and chemicals & chemical products,” the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement...

Source : Indian Express

Regional carrier Flybig on Sunday (15th Jan 2023) started service from Itanagar to Guwahati.

 

The carrier has commenced flight from Hollongi in Arunachal Pradesh to Guwahati in Assam.

 

"Itanagar is the 10th destination on Flybig network; while the third destination in Arunachal Pradesh alone.

Flybig also flies six days a week to Tezu and seven days to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh from Guwahati," it said in a release.

 

The direct morning flight from Itanagar to Guwahati will be operated on all days except Wednesday.

 

Flybig started its operations in January 2021 with ATR 72-500 and ATR 72-600 planes...

Source : Business Standard

India is celebrating the 75th Indian Army Day on Sunday (15th January 2023). It is observed every year (January 15).

* The Army Chief pointed out that Army Day is observed in Bengaluru is special as Field Marshal K M Cariappa, the first Commander in Chief of the Indian Army after Independence hails from Madikeri in Karnataka.

* On this day in 1949, Cariappa took over the command of the Indian Army by replacing his British predecessor and became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. 

 

* Addressing the 75th Army Day celebrations in Bengaluru 15th January 2023, the Army Chief said that the army is ready to tackle any contingency along the Indian borders.

* He pointed out that a strong defence posture and the use of anti-drone technologies have acted as a countermeasure against cross-border terrorism and insurgency. He promised that measures will be taken to tackle targeted killings in Jammu and Kashmir.

 

* The event featured a fly-past by the Army Aviation Dhruv and Rudra helicopters and Indian Air Force’s Sukhoi-30Mki..

Source : AIR

Rajasthan has become the first State in India to implement a blindness control policy to ensure the “right to sight”.

 

* This drive aims to reduce the rate of blindness and bring light into the lives of people suffering from visual impairment.

 

* The prevalence rate of blindness was 1.1% in 2020, aimed to bring it down to 0.3% through the policy.

 

* The State government would mandatorily run keratoplasty centres for cornea transplants and eye banks in medical colleges..

Source : The Hindu

The success of “Womaniya on Government eMarketplace” was commemorated in New Delhi on 14th Jan 2023.

There are over one lakh 44 thousand Udyam-verified women micro, small enterprises (MSE) registered at present, known as “Womaniya”.

 

They are registered as sellers and service providers on the GeM portal and have fulfilled over 14.76 lakh orders amounting to over 21 thousand crore rupees in Gross Merchandise Value.

 

The event was held by GeM in partnership with the Self-Employed Women’s Association, Bharat and attended by women entrepreneurs and participants from stakeholder organizations and associations.

 

The “Womaniya” initiative was launched in 2019. It has sought to encourage the participation of women entrepreneurs and self-help groups from the informal sector on the GeM portal and facilitate the sale of their products directly to various Government buyers, sans intermediaries...

Source : AIR

Clare Lombardelli has been appointed as the next Chief Economist of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), starting on 2 May 2023.

 

Clare was selected after a highly competitive merit-based selection process. She is a highly regarded economic policy leader who joins the OECD with 20 years of experience in economic analysis and policy making in the United Kingdom, including as the Chief Economist at the UK Treasury and the Joint Head of the UK Government Economic Service over the past five years.

Having started her career as an economist at the Bank of England, working on monetary policy and financial markets, Clare joined the UK civil service in 2005.

Her roles at the UK Treasury have included Deputy Director for Labour Market Policy (2007-2010), Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (2012-2015), and Director of Strategy, Planning and Budget (2015-2018).

 

 

Clare has been a member of the Treasury’s Executive Management Board since 2015. She has also worked at 10 Downing Street and as a technical advisor for the International Monetary Fund. She is a Visiting Professor at King’s College London and a Visiting Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford University.

 

Clare will lead the OECD's economic analysis and policy advice to support Members to optimise the strength and the quality of economic development and growth.

She takes on the leadership of the economic team at the OECD at a critical time for the global economy, which continues to work through the economic and social implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, as well as the structural transformations required to secure the green and digital transitions and to respond effectively to challenges posed by population ageing across many economies.

 

A British national, Clare holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science and Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.

 

Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to preserve individual liberty and improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world...

Source : OECD

Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary, 76, who died of heart attack in punjab on Saturday (14th Jan 2023) while taking part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra was among the senior leaders who gave Rahul Gandhi a rousing welcome as he entered Jalandhar district in the morning.

 

Amid loud slogans of Bharat Jodo hailing Gandhi, Chaudhary – the MP from Jalandhar – gave a speech for around four minutes and then walked with Gandhi for a couple of kilometres before rushing to the next point in a vehicle, said a Congress worker present at the spot.

 

While Chaudhary’s son Vikramjit Singh walked alongside Gandhi, Chaudhary hurried to the next spot where he had assembled people of all faiths to greet Gandhi. The Congress worker said that Chaudhary went ahead to ensure that everything was in order.

 

Around 8.30 am, the yatra reached the leprosy ashram at Phillaur, where Chaudhary had reportedly planned a meeting between Gandhi and the people of the ashram.

He was walking at a short distance from Gandhi. He asked about the well-being of Tamil Nadu MP Jyothimani, who has been with the yatra since the beginning, and suddenly collapsed. Some eyewitnesses said that he fell because of the rush...

Source : Indian Express

Dr. Jitendra Singh (Union Minister for Science and Technology) has launched Geospatial Hackathon to promote Innovation and Start-Ups in India’s Geospatial ecosystem.

This hackathon also aims to promote partnerships among the public and private geospatial.

It was jointly launched by the Survey of India, the Ministry of Science and Technology, IIIT Hyderabad, and Microsoft India.

There will be two sets of challenges :

(1) Research Challenge
(2) Start-Up Challenge

Source : PIB